This was our twelfth cruise, but our first 'short cruise' of just 4 nights. We selected this sailing (to Bruges and Amsterdam) because of the dates, which very specifically took-in the opportunity to visit the Dutch bulbfields in all their glory. The disappointment came about becuase the expected itinerary (as booked) had been as follows: arrival Amsterdam Day 2 afternoon (Day 1 being departure form Southampton), overnight Amsterdam then all day Amsterdam Day 3 with an early evening departure to Bruges (actually of course, Zeebrugge) for arrival early Day 4 before leaving late afternoon for early morning arrival Southampton Day 5. This was changed by P&O in the last weeks before departure to a reversal of the itinerary. This meant Day 2 in Bruges and Day 3 in Amsterdam with a full day at sea on Day 4. Not really a problem you might think, but in effect we lost the opportunity to go ashore in Amsterdam on two separate days and instead had a whole day of 'thumb-twiddling on the return trip (when P&O doubtless hoped that lots of money would be spent onboard!). We were told that 'P&O had only just become aware that another ship would be berthed at Bruges' and this forced the change of itinerary. This is hard ot believe, since shipping-movements must surely be known months, if not years, ahead! I may be wrong, but the tannoy announcement at Zeebrugge that 'Ventura would be taking on fuel' (which could surely have equally easily been accomplished in Southampton before departure) suggested to me that - consequential on recent economic developments - the much better Euro/Dollar exchange-rate (as against the Pound/Dollar exchange rate) meant that P&O would be able to save a huge amount on their fuel-bill. The ship's fuel-state was possibly known to be adequate to reach Zeebrugge from Southampton, but not Amsterdam. It is of course in 'the small print' that the itinerary can be changed at any time, but this doesn't alter the feeling of having been 'short-changed'.

All of that said, we did get to see the Keukenhof bulbfields on the same day as had been originally expected (and they were superb) and very much enjoyed Bruges. The vagueries of the weather cannot be controlled of course, but as it turned out we had a cold and wet day in Bruges (on Day 2) whereas Day 4 (when we should have been there) was fine and sunny. Instead, we were on board ship all day!

Ventura itself is OK if you like bigger ships. Shorter trips inevitably attract a different passenger-demographic from longer, more expensive, cruises. We could not fault the food, or the service, in the Bay Tree restaurant. Pleasingly, we enjoyed fixed time/table dining, but most passengers (on this cruise at least) would have experienced 'freedom dining' in the two main reaturants (Cinnamon and Saffron), P&O's term for eating at any time to suit yourself. This more informal approach may be liked by many, but my advice would be that if you prefer a traditional experience, then make sure that you opt for the (slightly) higher-priced P&O fares to ensure a fixed time and table. Despite earlier comments, we enjoyed our trip and from an overall 'value for money' standpoint, it would be churlish to rate the overall cruise experience as anything other than 'very good'.